Environment minister Harsh Vardhan also unveiled a related mobile app (GSDP-ENVIS) here, terming it an ambitious programme of the ministry that will help boost employability and entrepreneurship of the youth in the country.

State-run fuel retailers will not additionally raise petrol and diesel prices to recover the cost of upgrading to Bharat Stage-VI fuels in Delhi, the country’s first city where 100% petrol pumps will be officially selling the cleaner fuel from Sunday.

Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday made an impassioned appeal to the people to switch off all non-essential lights for an hour on March 24 to mark the Earth Hour, saying he himself will do so.

With 28 countries who have ratified the ISA treaty in attendance, the meet has snowballed from an initially modest event to a big ticket one which will see an eclectic mix of geographies lying between the two tropics.

In just three years, Diu has made rapid progress in solar power generation. The Union territory has an area of just 42 square kilometres. Despite the scarcity of land, solar power plants have been installed over more than 50 acres.

Vegan diets, which are rich in plant-based organic foods, may be better for the planet than one high in animal products, a study has found. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, is the first to investigate the environmental impacts of both dietary patterns and farm production systems.

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) not to grant clearance to any new thermal power plant till they comply with the standards set by it, after a plea alleged that many of them were flouting norms and causing pollution.

The International Solar Alliance (IAS), which became a treaty-based global entity on Wednesday, will develop an insurance scheme - Common Risk Mitigating Mechanism - to protect investors’ interests so that more and more investment can be attracted to the growing solar energy sector.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA), conceived as an exclusive group of countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, is likely to extend its footprint beyond the tropics.